Just For Fun

Right before the 2006 general election took place, I wrote a column titled "Celebrity Candidate Casting Call," which pointed out the disparity between the two American political parties when it came to fielding celebrity candidates. The reason why it was noteworthy was the imbalance tilted exactly the opposite direction that one would assume -- Republican celebrities had jumped into politics, often very successfully, in numbers that far outpaced Democratic celebrities. Since everyone knows Hollywood is a bastion of liberalism, the article was written in a "head-scratching" sort of tone. Why, I wondered, didn't Democrats actually stand up for their beliefs by running for public office, and why were there so many Republicans doing so?

What precipitated the column was my (accurate) prediction that Arnold Schwarzenegger was about to be re-elected governor by the voters of California. A friend of mine had pointed out the political celebrity imbalance, and the more research I did, the more tilted the field got. Here is the list I came up with, back in 2006:

Helen Gahagan Douglas (D) -- theater actress elected to a House seat from California (1945-1951). Ran for Senate in 1950, defeated by Richard Nixon (trivia: she coined the nickname "Tricky Dick" during this campaign).

Ronald Reagan (R) -- started life as a Democrat, but became California Governor (1967-1975) and US President (1981-1989) as a Republican.

Nancy Kulp (D) -- played banker "Jane Hathaway" on The Beverly Hillbillies, ran unsuccessfully for the House from Pennsylvania in 1984 (trivia: Buddy Ebsen, her co-star "Jed Clampett," actively campaigned against her, for her Republican opponent).

Clint Eastwood (R) -- mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea (1986-1988). [OK, he was only mayor of a small California town, but the list just wouldn't be complete without him.]

Fred Grandy (R) -- "Gopher" from The Love Boat. Served in the House from Iowa (1987-1995). Ran for Iowa Governor in 1994 and lost (trivia: was Best Man at the wedding of David Eisenhower and Julie Nixon).

Ben Jones (D) -- "Cooter" from The Dukes of Hazzard. Elected to the House from Georgia (1989-1993), then ran unsuccessfully for the House once more from Virginia (2002), before giving up (trivia: owns a restaurant named "Cooter's").

Ralph Waite (D) -- "Pa" from The Waltons, ran unsuccessfully (1990, 1998) for the House from California.

Fred Thompson (R) -- elected to the Senate from Tennessee (1994-2003), served one-and-a-half terms (was initially elected in a special election, to fill a vacant seat), then quit (trivia: has the distinction of being the only person to simultaneously be a sitting Senator and also have a major TV show role, on Law & Order).

Sonny Bono (R) -- Cher's old sidekick. Elected to the House from the Palm Springs district in California (1995-1998). Was previously mayor of Palm Springs.

Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) -- got elected Governor of California (2003-present) in the freak recall election, and appears to be headed for another term (trivia: cannot run for president, under current rules, since being an immigrant disqualifies him).

After which, I concluded:

Notice that you have to go back to the 1940s -- and include two people who ran and lost -- to get even four Democrats on that list. On the Republican side: a two-term president, a senator, two representatives, two governors, and mayor of a tiny seaside town. From the 1960s onward, Democrats have: Cooter. Seriously, Hollywood is the most liberal bastion in the entire country, and all they can come up with is Cooter? That's it? Cooter?!?

That's pathetic.

To be fair, I did fail to mention one important race, which is kind of inexplicable since the whole article was inspired by Schwarzenegger's second run. But in his first run, the field was a wide one indeed (due to the shortness of the two-month campaign and the low bar for candidacy). I did point out later in the article that this election was where Arianna Huffington entered the political scene (independent of her husband), but forgot to mention that there were other liberal celebrities in the race, including Don Novello (who played the "Father Guido Sarducci" character on Saturday Night Live), Gary Coleman, Angelyne, and the comedian Gallagher. Larry Flynt was also a candidate -- not an actor, but he does qualify as being a celebrity of sorts. Although the California "porn vote" wound up split, since porn star Mary Carey was also a candidate.

How did they do? Well, Father Guido Sarducci didn't even make it on the ballot, as his paperwork wasn't in order. Arianna Huffington did the best, winning fifth place, with 12,270 votes. Gary Coleman got seventh place (5,202 votes), Flynt eighth (4,558), Mary Carey ("Mary Cook," on the ballot) came in tenth (2,731), Gallagher nineteenth (904), with Angelyne right behind in twentieth place (902). To put these numbers in perspective, Schwarzenegger won the race with 821,319 votes.

It was, to be sure, a bizarre race brought on by a successful recall election of the sitting governor, Gray Davis. But the celebrities did run, so they at least deserved some sort of mention (which, again, I am providing now because I did not do so in my original article).

The article did manage to mention a few liberal celebrities who had flirted with throwing their hat into the ring (such as Warren Beatty and country music star Tim McGraw) and a few others who were being urged to run by grassroots groups (Bruce Springsteen, Oprah Winfrey). It also mentioned Jerry Springer, who really should have been included in the list, since he had run for both a House seat and the governor of Ohio, and had won a seat on the city council of Cincinnati. Springer flirted with a Senate run as well, but decided against it. Even so, that's enough to merit inclusion on a list that has Clint Eastwood on it (he was only ever the mayor of a small California seaside town, after all).

Two other liberal celebrities were also mentioned, since they were in active political campaigns at the time. Kinky Friedman wound up in fourth place (with 12.6 percent of the vote) in his bid to be governor of Texas, and musician John Hall successfully won two terms in the House, in 2006 and 2008.

What this means is that -- even discounting the wild and crazy California post-recall governor's race -- there are a few more legitimate names to add to that list. At the very least, Jerry Springer, Kinky Friedman, and John Hall deserve to be mentioned for their political campaigns. And, of course, there's one other big name I haven't mentioned yet. I ended my 2006 article with the following:

Finally, there's my favorite choice for a Democratic candidate: Al Franken. Anyone who has seen Robin Williams' new movie Man of the Year is already considering the question: could a comedian win the Presidency? Well... maybe, maybe not. But Franken has set his sights a little lower, publicly discussing how he's positioning himself for a Senate run from Minnesota in 2008. I truly think he could win, and I would love to see Senator Franken in action. C-SPAN meets Comedy Central!

Because he's good enough, he's smart enough, and doggone it, people like him.

Senator Franken won a very close election (the recount went on forever), and appears to be comfortably heading for re-election this year as well. Franken, Springer, and Hall add to the Democratic side of the celebrity list: a senator, a representative, and a major city's councilman -- which goes a long way towards balancing things out.

Which, also, brings us up to date. In the 2014 election cycle, we had two Democratic celebrities at least consider running. Ashley Judd seemed quite serious about challenging Mitch McConnell for his Senate seat in Kentucky, but after exploring the mood of the state's Democrats, ultimately decided against running. And now, American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken is the Democratic nominee for a House seat in North Carolina.

More power to him, I say. Run, Clay, run! Few expect him to win the general election (the district went for Romney with almost 60 percent of the vote, in 2012), but that is all the more reason to praise Aiken for making his run, in a way.

Committing yourself to a political campaign is a grueling experience, even just for a House race. It's not for the faint at heart. When I wrote that article back in 2006, I was encouraging Democratic celebrities to jump into politics for real, instead of just sniping from the sidelines. Since that time, it seems Democrats have taken the lead in celebrities who actually do run. We haven't really had any Republican celebrities (that I can think of, at least) who have run since the heady days of "Governator" Schwarzenegger. Donald Trump keeps yanking the media's chain, threatening to run for president, but it always fizzles into being just a stunt, in the end (to boost the ratings of his television show, no doubt).

So I do salute Democratic celebrities, Clay Aiken included, who choose to actually run for public office -- especially when they do so against long odds. In my original article, I stated what I still feel is the truth about such "celebriticians," which I leave you with as my final word:

Some would say that it's actually a good thing more showbiz stars don't run. I personally think they'd be about average as politicians -- some would do a good job, some would screw up -- just like any other group of people.

While running for the Senate remains an option, the Louisiana native seems more interested in the governor’s office.

“It’s more of a leadership role, and I think that’s something that I’d do well,” he said. “That doesn’t rule out senator; I just think that as governor of a state, especially where I live, there would be a lot more opportunities to make some decisions and change some things.”

He identified health care as his top issue, and said one of his main reasons for wanting to enter politics is Clinton, whom he calls “the best president we ever had.”